Division I Women

Albany Completes Perfect Season with America East
Championship

from press release

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Jodi Battaglia had five goals
and two assists in leading Albany to an 11-4 victory over UMBC and
capturing its first-ever America East Conference championship on
Saturday at John Fallon Field. The Great Danes, who are ranked No.
8 in the IWLCA poll and No. 5 by deBeer/Inside Lacrosse, earned the
program's first NCAA tournament appearance at the Division I
level.

Albany (17-0) broke open a tight game in the first half with a
string of five unanswered goals over a span of six minutes and 49
seconds. After UMBC (11-7) tied the contest at two apiece, Nikki
Branchini won the following draw to set up the offensive
possession.

Battaglia, the championship's most outstanding player, cut to
the right of the crease and scored off Taylor Frink's pass from
behind the cage.â¨ Amanda Pollock and Ariana Parker
added unassisted goals for a 5-2 advantage. Pollock bounced a
free-position attempt through the goalkeeper's legs.

Jess Antelmi's caused turnover and ground ball led to a
successful clear by Parker, and the freshman drove to the net for
the goal. Frink, who became the school's career assists leader in
the contest, was involved in the next two scoring plays. She set up
Battaglia by knifing a diagonal pass from behind the net to the
right of the crease. The senior attacker then sent a free-position
shot inside the right post with a sidearm delivery.

The Great Danes, who will make the NCAA field as the nation's
only unbeaten squad, scored three more times in the opening eight
minutes of the final period to build a 10-2 margin.

Battaglia, who tied a season-best with seven points, rolled
inside a defender from the left side, before finding a cutting
Rachael Burek one minute and three seconds later. Working from a
spread attacker, Parker, who had two goals and one assists, moved
in from the left to deposit a shot on the near side.

Meanwhile, Albany's defense held the Retrievers off the
scoreboard for more than 46 minutes. Freshman goalkeeper Anna
Berman had four saves and robbed Alicia Krause, the conference's
fifth-leading scorer, at point-blank range during that
sequence.

UMBC finally ended the drought when Ashley Stodter finishing off
a clearing play by placing a shot into the left side with 2:10
remaining.

"They had momentum after defeating Boston University in overtime
(in the semifinals)," said Branchini, a senior defensive midfielder
who won 13 draw controls in the two tournament games. "We made good
decisions and came out and performed. I love looking back to see
the ball in her (Berman's) stick. She didn't play like a freshman
today."

The Great Danes, who were competing in the championship final
for just the second time since joining America East in 2002, were
fighting off the past to make history. UMBC upended regular-season
champion Albany is last year's tournament semifinals.

"We have seen them before and we knew how to handle it," said
Battaglia, as her team also posted a 12-11 win against UMBC to
decide this season's regular-season title and top seed just one
week ago. "We were ready for the game and focused."

The Retrievers' Amanda Pappas scored a pair, including a
free-position goal that tied the contest in the opening half.
Albany's Frink, who joined Battaglia, Branchini and Parker on the
all-championship squad, had one goal and three
assists.â¨ "This is fantastic and it doesn't get
old," said first-year Albany coach John Battaglino, who was
promoted to the position after one season as the program's
associate head coach and was previously a Syracuse assistant. "I
have coached a lot of teams. But when you look at that fact that we
were missing three starters (due to injury), this performance is
one of the best."